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Lincoln -- The eighth-ranked Husker wrestling team (1-0) will take to the road again this weekend for three duals against Portland State, Oregon and Oregon State. NU will take on Portland State on Friday in Portland, Ore., starting at 7 p.m., before matchups with Oregon State on Saturday at noon in Corvallis and Oregon at 7 p.m. in Eugene.
The Huskers are coming off a sixth-place performance at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational last weekend, as three Huskers finished in the top-four of their respective weight classes, including a first-place performance from redshirt freshman B.J. Padden at 184 pounds.
The Huskers open up their Oregon road trip with a match against Portland State. The Vikings will be facing the Huskers after a 37th-place showing at the Las Vegas Invitational. Portland State is led by their 197-pounder Randy Davidson. This is the first since 1989-90 that the Cornhuskers have faced Portland State. The previous meeting between the two schools ended with a Husker 32-12 victory.
Oregon is led by senior heavyweight Eric Webb. Webb is currently ranked 10th by the Wrestling Mall. Webb is 6-0 on the season. The Ducks are coming off of an eighth-place finish at the 2002 Mat Town Invite. The Huskers dropped a match to Oregon last season losing on the tiebreaker rule 24-24. Oregon leads the all-time series 2-1.
Oregon State is coming off of a 18th-place showing at the 2002 Cliff Keen Invitational. The Beavers are led by senior heavyweight Andy Bowlby who finished fifth at the Cliff Keen Invitational. Bowlby is 7-3 on the season. Last season the Huskers defeated Oregon State, 22-16. Nebraska leads the overall series 5-1.
Padden Takes Title, Leads Huskers to Sixth Place Finish
The Nebraska wrestling team took sixth place with 89 team points at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 6-7. Minnesota took the team title with 131 points.
Redshirt freshman B.J. Padden led the Huskers, taking first place at 184 pounds with a 9-7 win over seventh-ranked Ralph DeNisco of Wisconsin. Junior Jason Powell dropped a 5-1 decision to second-ranked Chris Fleeger of Purdue in the 125 pound finals.
Sophomore Travis Shufelt earned a fourth-place finish at 149 pounds dropping his third-place match to second-ranked Jesse Jantzen of Harvard. Nebraska's other placewinner was sophomore Travis Pascoe who finished eighth at 174 pounds after droping his seventh-place match to Purdue's Ryan Lange, 15-4.
Ruiz Injured At Cliff Keen Invitational
Top-ranked 197-pounder Justin Ruiz was injured at the 2002 Cliff Keen Invitational on Dec. 6-7. The All-American went down with a hamstring injury in his match against Manny Pacialls of Adams State. Ruiz was leading 16-3 in the second period when the injury occurred. Ruiz is expected to be out of action four to six weeks.
Huskers Take Second; Ruiz Secures Individual Title
Justin Ruiz led the Husker wrestling team to a second-place finish at the 2002 Mat Town Invite on Nov. 30. Nebraska finished with a team total of 156.5 points, 11 points behind Purdue. Penn State finished third, followed by Lock Haven, Pittsburgh, Buffalo with Ohio, Oregon, Slippery Rock and Franklin & Marshall.
Ruiz won by injury default over Purdue's Jon Bush in the finals. NU's Jason Powell, B.J. Padden and Joey Malia each finished second. Powell lost an 8-1 decision to second-ranked Chris Fleeger of Purdue.
Freshman Jacob Klein and Mitch Manstedt finished third. Sophomore Travis Shufelt was fourth with sophomore Matt Murray, Nate McMillin and Nathan McClain finishing fifth.
Second-ranked Travis Pascoe and freshman James Pummel took sixth
Huskers Drop Sun Devils, 20-19
Nebraska opened its 2002-03 season Friday, Nov. 22 with a 20-19 win over 12th-ranked Arizona State in front of 733 fans at the NU Coliseum.
Leading the way for the Huskers was junior 125-pounder Jason Powell, who registered a fall at the 2:05 mark over Adam Chavira. The pin gave the Huskers a 17-10 lead that they would not relinquish.
Heading into the 125-pound match NU held a one-point lead at 11-10, after junior heavyweight Nathan McClain nearly knocked off seventh-ranked Kellan Fluckiger. McClain held a 4-1 lead in the middle of the third period before Fluckiger battled back to send the match into overtime. Fluckiger scored a takedown 18 seconds into the extra frame for a 6-4 win.
The Sun Devils got off to a quick start winning the first two matches of the day at 157 and 165 pounds, taking a early 7-0 lead. At 174 pounds, fourth-ranked Travis Pascoe got NU on the on the scoreboard with a 13-6 decision over 12th-ranked Curtis Owen. Following the victory at 174 pounds, redshirt freshman B.J. Padden scored his first varsity win with a 14-6 major decision over Mazi Burke at 184 pounds.
NU recorded its third-straight victory of the night when second-ranked Justin Ruiz recorded a technical fall over Ryan Bader, 21-6, putting the Huskers up by four heading into heavyweight.
After McClain's tough loss and Powell